Published: January 19, 2008 10:00 pm      

Indians score 33 in third, down Henderson

By Don Wallace

sports@jacksonvilleprogress.com

HENDERSON — It was just a matter of when, not if.

When the Jacksonville Indians would explode to have a near-perfect quarter.

The answer was Friday night in Henderson. The Indians erupted for 33 points in the third period as they routed the Lions, 79-54.

The Indians got red-hot at the perfect time and the Lions served as kindling. Top hot shooter for the Tribe was Jay Jimenez who had five 3-pointers in the magical period.

“We started out kind of slow. I was testing out some different defenses. Then we went to a full out man-to-man and we got some fast break points. We started running some set plays and we had a big third quarter,” said Roynal Bridgeforth, JHS Indians head basketball coach.

In just one quarter, Jacksonville had more points than Henderson scored in the first three frames.

“Jay caught on fire. He was making 3-pointers and we kept feeding him the ball. We got some quick points and we were able to pull away. We were able to hit some shots. For the game, we shot the ball well. We also rebounded the ball very well; we had 24 in the game,” Bridgeforth said.

Jimenez led Jacksonville with 17.Demarcus Session added 12; Chris Williams, 11; Kelvin Hall, 11 points, 6 steals, 3 assists, 3 rebounds; Jeremy Chappelle, 8; Donovan Bridgeforth, 2 points, 3 steals, 4 assists; and Dowindle Hamilton, 2 points, 3 steals, 6 assists.

Jimenez had five 3-pointers, all coming in the third period.

“We played pretty well and we are certainly glad to get the district win, especially on the road. Road wins in this district are tough, we will take it. I think we just have more experience as a team than Henderson. Mark Alexander (Henderson head basketball coach) does a good job, you can tell they are well-coached,” Bridgeforth said.

Jacksonville, 17-6 overall, 5-2 in district will host Marshall Tuesday in the first game of the second round of district.

In the first matchup, the Indians had their highest scoring output of the year as they mashed the Mavs 101-88.

Marshall is 7-14 overall, 3-4 in district.